And for this one -- check out also pg. 58-59 on the newest Hot Rod mag. It looked sharp in the magazine -- way better still in person:

Finally -- just to remind you that the show is in the home of open-wheel racing:

Maybe there'll be more photos tomorrow. We'll be at that presentation in the AM -- room 239, 8AM. Oh, yeah -- Dennis Sullivan (USFRA) pres had been scheduled to be on the panel but couldn't make it. That's how Tom Burkland got the nod instead.

We'll letcha know about what we see there. Bye for now --

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Jon E. Wennerberg a/k/a Seldom Seen Slim Skandia, Michigan (that's way up north)2 Club member x2Owner of landracing.com

(For us, at least) P R I 2015 is over. We went to the panel about LSR Opportunities (business) - or so the program told us. After the four panelists (Steve Watt, Tom Burkland, Stuart Gosswein, Land Speed Louise) and the "moderator", Dan Schechner (Editor of the PRI Magazine) talked a bit about stuff that belonged under the title -- we then got around to Q & A from the room. And gee, wouldn't you know it -- salt and the lack thereof at Bville was pretty much the remainder of the 1 1/4 hours we were together.

So - I don't have specifics of what was said. I've started the chain to get a copy of the audio from the presentation and'll post it/archive it someplace here on this website. The only video recording that I know of -- was the guy sitting next to me doing a good job of not wiggling his phone camera and recording the whole shebang. I've got his contact information, too.

There were lotsa racers there that we had NOT seen during the past few -- folks that wanted to be at the meeting, though, for sure. Jack Rodgers and Roy Creel and the Christophersons and Podunk and on and on. We were all pretty glad to be there. Oh, yeah -- we did see Hooley (again) today. I'm not gonna say anything more (basically). I'll let one and all that were there chew over what we heard and let all of youse guys then tell us what you think. As for us? Things might be (sorta) under control to get going to save the salt pretty soon - and well. but -- will we run in '16? How 'bout this, instead? If the new pumping and delivering system gets approved and endorsed and set up and working -- yeah, well, maybe we might have a decent short course by summer of '16. But -- if things are working right -- how 'bout canceling the '16 season right now - December '15 - and let the new system work a full year and a half and wow, the course oughta be dang good -- and plenty long -- by then.

Over to you. We'll be staying over one more night before hitting the road - so I'll keep a close eye on what you folks say today. Have at it!

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Jon E. Wennerberg a/k/a Seldom Seen Slim Skandia, Michigan (that's way up north)2 Club member x2Owner of landracing.com

I don't understand why running a short course in '16 would in any way might jeopardize what would happen a year later(?).

Hi, Stan - Just got back to Beerhaven, and have had a few hours to chew over what was served up for breakfast in Indy this morning.

The idea put forth by Tom Burkland was this - if everybody can agree - BNI, Intrepid, BLM, USFRA, the bike event - pump brine continuously in 2016, rather than stopping in - whenever it is - April, May - and get as much salt out of the evaporation ponds as possible and back on the north side of I-80 where continued evaporative effects of mid-late summer heat and wind could do the most good to restoring the race surface.

I think this is quite a pragmatic approach, actually, provided the decision can be made soon. Here are my thoughts -

Right now, there is a lot of water available to do this pumping process - likely sufficient brackish water exists to pump for the next 8 months without having a negative effect on the current groundwater interests, both public or private. To that end, the iron is hot.

Assuming a normal year (yeah, I know the adage), once the waters from the winter snow melt and spring rains have evaporated, the only thing left to evaporate will be brine from Intrepid. Think about that for a minute - rather than the diluted brine that nature provides via run-off and dilution with the existing salt, what would be evaporated would be brine brought over from south of I-80 - and during a time of year when the evaporative nature of the flats could most quickly and easily cause the salt to fall out of suspension and be deposited onto the surface.

The fallout - as I see it - would be this -

No racing in 2016 - not even a short course - in order to extend the pumping time frame.

Businesses in Wendover would go another year without our presence - which, in actuality, could cause additional political pressure on local and regional government officials to press the BLM to take quicker action.

This could possibly bring the political clout of the casino's into our camp.

If BNI, USFRA, etc. can make this decision early enough, it permits all of us an opportunity to make plans for summer that might include other venues.

There were two questions asked of the racers in attendance at the meeting.

A questioner from the audience asked for a show of hands for those who would forgo 2016 if it held out the possibility of better salt in 2017.

The second question put to the audience from one of the panelists was, "Who wants to race in 2016?"

« Last Edit: December 12, 2015, 08:40:41 PM by Milwaukee Midget »

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"Problems are almost always a sign of progress." Harold BettesWell, I guess we're making a LOT of progress . . .

Anyone know if this plan includes a way to confine the pumped brine or are we just going to use this year to wash the last of the surface into the ditches and since that has been the result of the strip mining the last 50 years. I think that could result in the Bonneville mud flats.

when did the people understand that pumping is not the right way....not so as it was done in the last year....

they pumped not salt back to the north, they pumped rubbish over to the north side....

if you take the salt in your hand you can feel the different to the salt in the 90's and now...in the 90's the salt was hard crystal...today, salt is a greasy mud...but not anymore salt.

what we got today on the BSF is a kind of sponge which sucks water in...salt is not doing this.

the only right way, would be loads of pure, real salt from the south side carried to the north side and loaded into the water which is on the lake bed...so that this salt sever into the water and when the lake dry up the salt creates a new layer of real salt....

this is the only way we can go, all other is just for the show...camouflage the sad situation on the BSF...but it will not improve the situation....

what we got today on the lake bed is everything but NOT SALT....and the mud which was flown all over the lake bed in spring 2015 due to the long raining season will not disappear so quick....therefore the salt which is left over under the mud had at first to sever into water, so that the mud can sink to the bottom

this is the reality....so much this reality hurts.....

To check the today "salt mix" we have on the lake bed I gave the USFRA a bottle with salt from October 1999, which was coming from the course we used at the WF in 1999...means salt before the big pumping...this way it can be shown how the mixture of the surface changed in the last 15 years....hope the USFRA used this chance...I still had nothing heard from them

Hope you folks can understand my note (due to my bad English)

and I hope I prove my own words not right, when I said in 2012 at the salt....if the situation change not very quick we will not run anymore on the lake bed in ten years....hope my feeling will be than proved wrong.....

Pork Pie, you may well be right. The quality of what Intrepid is pumping back did not come up at Indy, and I can’t speak to it. But for all of its alleged “natural beauty”, the plain truth is that Bonneville is now and will remain an artificially engineered environment.

Our task is to work to maintain a race course by manipulating the engineering in such a way that racing can continue.

But realistically, I don't think we'll ever see a string of dump trucks shuttling salt from the south side to the north side if I-80 - not as long as hydraulic transport is viewed as a viable option. Given the quantity of salt sitting in Intrepid’s evaporation ponds, the size of the area that needs to be repaired, the wear and tear on the service roads, bridges and vehicles transporting it back to the track, the man hours, fuel costs and time, plus the fact that such transportation could only occur during those times that the surface was dry and we're racing on it – I really think it’s an unrealistic proposition.

Personally, I think extending the pumping season through an entire year is worth a shot, but such a program is not likely to be approved in light of the 2018 study on the horizon.

Funny how that works . . . no?

Regarding the seminar, the topic of the discussion was "Opportunities in Land Speed Racing", based on Louise Ann Noeth’s PRI magazine article of last June. I don’t know if you’ve read it – here’s a link.

Probably 45 minutes of the seminar dealt with that – the Q&A focused on the tribulations and current pall over Bonneville.

Stainless, Louise spoke quite eloquently about how LSR racers shared information and helped each other out to achieve their goals. Conversely, darned little information as to the plan the Utah Alliance is working on surfaced, other than we’ll see something in January.

Fortunately, I was able to buttonhole Stuart Gosswein about a question I directed to him in the Q&A. He'll be getting the information and copies of the correspondences I've had with my Senator. Senator Baldwin's office has been looking for more information from me, and if the Alliance won't share it with the general public just yet, it's my hope they will share it with my Senator's fact finders in advance of publication.

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"Problems are almost always a sign of progress." Harold BettesWell, I guess we're making a LOT of progress . . .

IF anyone thinks that the panelists and the event held will in any way resolve the issue of the receding salt surface, you would be delusional. I was there and was very disappointed in the senseless use of time extolling the virtues of the "Bonneville experience" and other drivel. When I posed the question of when we would get to the disappearing salt, the tone definitely changed but not toward being effective, but more along the lines of coulda, woulda, shoulda, and we must be patient and things will work out. Horse apples! The BLM is criminally corrupt and we the people for whom they work should push that point - accountability. Posing another suggestion such as moving salt accumulated south of the highway back to the north was also dodged. The overall philosophy of "I am ok and you are ok so let's have some hot chocolate" will not get the results needed. After my few questions and comments in the gathering, the panel moderator simply would not recognize me again even though I held my hand up repeatedly. I guess he didn't think I would play well with others or buy into the patience, posing, or politics.

The mining company is not the problem here......They are simply taking advantage of their skillfully crafted contract. The BLM is the problem here in that they have not done their duty in making sure the good old potash depleted salt ended back on the north side of the highway.

The only sensible thing that was mentioned was for all in attendance to call their representatives and try and get them on board. Since I have all of mine on speed dial I will certainly lend support to that mode of exposure of the Bureau of Land Mismangement concerning the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Try and do your part and light the fuse under your rep's fanny. Patience is not the answer. Neither is relying on folks that have absolutely no idea how the government bureaucracies self-perpetuate instead of working for the country's welfare.

Meaning well will not count in the battle to "fix" the salt flats. So, bet on getting upset and do not rely on others to dial the phone or send emails to your representative and make sure your Congressman and Senator know who you are and what you stand for.

Merry Christmas to All. May the Almighty bless this Nation and our warriors abroad.

Louise pointed out in her radio interview in August, in the text of the Utah Alliance video, and reiterated Saturday at PRI that LSR racers are nobodies. I believe the spirit of her wording within the context of her narrative was intended to impart some sense of romanticism to what we do, but if we don't act now, that statement could prove to be equally accurate when taken out of context and viewed as a stand alone statement.

Harold is spot on regarding pestering your legislators.

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"Problems are almost always a sign of progress." Harold BettesWell, I guess we're making a LOT of progress . . .